Inside the Catholic World

Cutting Edge Foreign Editor

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI will release a third encyclical, tentatively entitled Caritas in Veritate (Charity/Love in the Truth), according to Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone.

The cardinal disclosed in an interview with the APCOM news agency that the Benedict’s next encyclical will not be ready for publication before the fall. "The encyclical is still being written," he said.

Cardinal Bertone stated that Pope Benedict is also working on the second part of his book Jesus of Nazareth. The Pope typically devotes a substantial portion of his summer vacation to writing projects.

In his encyclical, the cardinal said, “[Pope Benedict] does not want to repeat obvious truths of Catholic social teaching," but will apply Church teachings to contemporary problems. “I am thinking of globalization and other problems, like the food crisis and climate change," Cardinal Bertone said.

Il Giornale's Andrea Tornielli reported last week that the committee working with the Pope on the encyclical includes the Pope's recently-named successor as archbishop of Munich and Freising, Reinhard Marx, a specialist in Catholic social teaching; the top two officials of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Martino and Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi; and Stefano Zamagni, a lay Italian economist.